LANSING, Mich. (WILX) – Community leaders in Lansing are weighing in after a mural honoring George Floyd was vandalized along the city’s River Trail.
The mural was painted in 2020 by Flint-based artist Isaiah Lattimore during the peak of Black Lives Matter protests throughout the country. For many in the community, it served as both a memorial of George Floyd’s life and the injustice of police brutality.
The artwork was vandalized over the weekend for the third time.
Lansing City Councilman Ryan Kost took to social media to address his concerns about the incident. The post has since been deleted:
“We’re better than this. In case you spotted the nasty words across George Floyd’s head, they’ve been sent to the parks director today to be removed.
If I could, as a reminder, say this…
No one’s perfect, and we’re ALL human and ALL make mistakes, myself included. That doesn’t mean any of us deserve to die for our character defects, and he did die by force, and we memorialize him, even with his flaws, which we all have.
Agree or disagree, that’s fine, but for God’s sake, can we be civil? If it’s not yours or you don’t like it, keep walking. I see things all the time I’d like to rip up, but I keep walking because the message “you will rise above it” is a stronger one. I can be better and try every day, and whoever did this can be too.”
James McCurtis, the president of Lansing’s NAACP, said this kind of vandalism is no longer surprising.
“It’s a shame that we still have people that would do something like this to deface a memorial for someone who was killed when it came to police brutality,” McCurtis said.
Community advocate Michael Lynn Jr. said many people in the local Black community didn’t even know the mural existed. He said the vandalism is the least of their worries.
“Miss me with the fake tears and the concern, you know, care about Black people in real life, not just memorials,” Lynn said.
Lynn said his main concern is the hatred he sees online.
“What happened to George Floyd’s mural is not nearly as harmful as watching the whole community be completely racist for hours and days [online],” Lynn said. “Leaving up a platform for white supremacists and racist folks to come on and badger George or badger… the community…, it’s worse than the vandalism that happens,”
McCurtis said the vandalism should not prevent the community from its mission.
“We can’t let this display of hatred prevent us from our mission of making our country a better country by loving each other more,” McCurtis said.
Brett Kaschinske, Lansing’s director of parks and recreation, said the artwork is part of the River Trail’s character, and when people disrupt those areas, it can be frustrating.
“We’re the stewards of taking care of that property. And to be able to not do that, because we’re taking time out to clean up after efforts like this, that’s frustrating,” Kaschinske said. “There’s other things that we can and should be doing that are proper and appropriate, I guess, maintenance items for a parks department to do. And this is certainly not one of them.”
The city’s parks and recreation department first heard about the incident over the weekend and cleaned off the artwork early Monday morning.
Vandalism throughout the city of Lansing can be reported through the Lansing Connect mobile app.
The artwork can be found on the Lansing River Trail under the I-496 bridge.
Stream News 10 on your favorite devices! Here’s how to download the WILX app on Roku, Fire TV or Apple TV.
Be the first to see the Mid-Michigan headlines you care about – download the News 10 mobile app and subscribe to our News 10 newsletter and YouTube page to receive the latest local news and weather.
Copyright 2026 WILX. All rights reserved.
